Swaying of My Soul
by Homura Bakura
Summary: [complete] "Back and forth, my soul sways ever nearer to yours." - A collection of Pendulumshipping oneshots for Pendulum Week
1. Believe x Believe

Three years. Three years he had spent at this damn computer screen, running simulation after simulation, testing deck after deck, watching a million and one students pass across the screen, laughing, studying, messing around, being ordinary kids. Like they didn't know what was coming. Because they didn't, of course.

He pretended that he didn't care. That he didn't care that his childhood had been taken from him, that he wasn't allowed to participate in the mundane, everyday activities that other kids his age were. Pretended that he didn't rage against his father silently every morning and night, didn't mutter curses and swears at the keyboard when he couldn't sleep at night.

Akaba Reiji didn't think such things. Akaba Reiji was not prone to such displays of emotion.

He certainly wasn't the type to just lay his head into his hands and plead silently for sleep that wouldn't come. He wasn't one to quietly beg whatever higher power that was out there to send him some kind of sign that he was capable of doing this. For three years he had been training students with the secret intent of making them ready to fight off an impending interdimensional invasion, and for three years he had become more and more disillusioned about if they would ever actually be ready. These were _children_, for God's sake, children that he was turning into soldiers without their even knowing it.

How was he different from his father again?

No. No, don't go down that road. He shut off that line of thought immediately.

_He was the initiator. I am just the reactor. I wouldn't be doing this if not for him._

The same rationalizing. He would recognize it for what it was if he let himself, but he didn't. He didn't have the luxury.

_Please,_ he thought. _Please._

Who was he asking, though? He had stopped believing in a God long, long ago.

And he was starting to lose his belief that he could ever protect this world from the destruction that the XYZ dimension had faced. He didn't have any more belief to give.

The screen flashed. Suddenly, every energy readout _exploded._ It was like the technology didn't know what to do with themselves, colored bars flaring up and done, line graphs wobbling in all directions, lights flashing and alarms buzzing.

Reiji's head snapped up. His assistants on the lower level were attacking the keyboards, shouting at each other over their headsets, trying to locate the energy source.

"What is this? What is going on?" Reiji said, standing up with a snap, hands bracing against his desk.

"We don't know, sir," one woman said, eyes fixed to the screens. "It's summoning energy but we can't pin...point...it..."

Her voice trailed off with awe as the screen locked on to the energy and zoomed in.

It was the exhibition duel with Strong Ishijima, against that boy, Sakaki Yuya. Reiji had given the boy a passing glance before, as he had given to many other duelists outside of LDS—he had counted on being able to scout outside his school if necessary.

But never before had he seen anything like this.

The boy stood with an uncommon amount of strength, radiating intensity, confidence, crimson eyes shining with determination. Pillars of light rested on either side of him, a magician hovering in each one. Three monsters graced the boy's field, the great red dragon with bichromatic eyes taking center stage.

"What...is that?"

"It's...Pendulum summoning, sir. That's—that's what the computer says, but I...I've never seen anything like it. These...these energy readouts..."

"Pendulum summoning..."

Something _sparked _in Reiji's chest. Like static electricity in his heart.

Those_ eyes..._so _focused_...

"Sakaki...Yuya..." he murmured.

For the first time in months, perhaps even years, he felt something stirring in his chest. On the screen, the boy's pendulum necklace swung softly back and forth, back and forth...

A faint smile grew on Reiji's lips.

"Well," he said. "It's showtime, then."


	2. Burn

Fire. Everything was on fire. Oh God, everything was burning. People were screaming, he could hear them echoing in his head, the lights were flashing and everyone was cut down, replacing with a flutter of cards in the wind.

No, no, no, no, no, _no—_

Burning, burning, _burning_ pain searing across his skin, he couldn't breathe, he didn't even have enough air to scream—

"Yuya!"

Yuya cried out, struggling for breath.

"Yuya, breathe! Yuya!"

Light filtered through as Yuya struggled upwards for consciousness. He felt constricted, something was holding him down, he had to escape—

"Yuya, Yuya, breathe, just hold on. You're tangled up in the sheets. Yuya, listen, you have to wake up. It's a dream. It's just a dream, you're okay."

A face looking down at him. Blurred. White surrounded it—was he still alive..? What had happened?

His vision cleared. The voice was Gongenzaka's, he could see his friend's sturdy face above him, thick brows drawn up with concern, large hands softly but firmly on his shoulders. Yuya realized then that he was still flailing, still trying to escape the burning in his head. He relaxed, trying to breathe.

"There you go," Gongenzaka said, soothingly. "Hang on, I'll get you untangled."

Yuya didn't resist as his friend gently tugged the sheets up from around his limbs. He felt like he could breathe, finally.

"Where—where am I?" he said. His throat felt dry, and the sound came out as a croak.

"Here," Gongenzaka said, handing Yuya a glass of water. "Can you drink this?"

Yuya swallowed through a scratchy throat. Yeah, he definitely needed that. It took him a second to struggle up to a sitting position, and then he gratefully accepted the water, draining the whole glass in one gulp. When he came back up for air, he glanced around the room. It was pretty bare, and white. An open window with white curtains, fluttering gently in the breeze.

"You're at the hospital," said Gongenzaka in answer to Yuya's previous question, now that Yuya was fully conscious. "Do you remember what happened?"

"N-no..."

No, wait—he thought he did. The memory had gotten tangled up with Yuto's war flashbacks, but now that he was awake, he thought he could remember...

"They—they set fire to the building. The Obelisk Force."

"Yeah."

Yuya swallowed. He was starting to remember now. The attack had been unexpected. Yuya had seen the three uniformed Academy agents at the end of the street. None of the other Lancers were close enough. He had chased them into a closed down shop after he had sent out an alert to the others—and then...

Yuya coughed. He could feel the smoke from the fire still clinging to his throat. Gongenzaka put his hand on Yuya's shoulder again, steadying him.

"But—but what happened after that? They set it on fire, and then that one guy..."

He had been thrown into the flames. His opponents, merciless, the tallest one's eyes flashing and laughing as he shoved Yuya down the stairs and into the fire. Yanking himself out with a cry, the damage already done across his back and arms, flames still smoldering across his shirt. Dizziness from the smoke overtaking him, unable to see past the ash in his eyes. Outnumbered and out manuevered—he couldn't focus on the duel with all three of them closing on him and the house falling to pieces around him—

The telltale hum of a Tuner monster synchronizing with another monster, the glow of the green portals through which the Synchro monster would appear. Someone tall, dark, illuminated against the flames, his form crackling with rage as he spoke quiet, but resonant commands to his monsters.

Yuya squinted, trying to remember.

"That...did you..."

Gongenzaka shook his head. He looked...almost in awe. Before he could speak, though, Yuya remembered.

"It was Reiji," he muttered. "Reiji pulled me out of there..."

Gongenzaka nodded.

"I'd...I'd never seen anything like it," Gongenzaka said. "He was—I would hate to have been on the other end of him at that moment..."

That's right, it was all rushing back now. After Yuya had dropped to his knees, dizzy with smoke and the pain of his burns, that was when the tall, thin shadow of Reiji had exploded through a crumbling wall with his Synchros monster, eyes flashing with fury behind his glasses. The harsh, quiet, dangerous way he snapped out commands to his monsters, voice echoing through the house despite his quiet voice.

Everything crumbling down around him, Yuya thrown off balance by Yuto's sudden cries in the back of his head, his other soul was having flashbacks again, and then Reiji, again, appearing in front of him, grabbing Yuya by the shoulders and practically throwing him over his back, much stronger than he looked in his toothpick frame, half dragging Yuya out of the house as everything burned down around them...

He had passed out somewhere in the middle but...

He thought he could remember the coolness of the concrete outside, the breath of fresh air on his face, coming half awake as Reiji pounded on his chest and pulled him back into a coughing fit—but alive.

Yuya glanced down at his arms then. There were burn marks but...not as bad as he had thought. Second degree at most. And then he recognized the rich red fabric half draped over him, and felt vaguely at his shoulders...

Reiji's scarf? How long...had that been...?

He was laying outside on the concrete, the smell of the burning house still in his nostrils, gasping for breath, shivering and shaking and trying not to fall into the horrible flashbacks of Heartland's destruction again—and then, the warm, supple fabric, drawn across his shoulders, and a pair of arms with it, holding him, a soft voice murmuring nothing that he could understand into his ears.

Something to hold onto, a sensory thing that he knew was real, something to latch onto and keep himself in reality.

"He...didn't take his scarf back?" Yuya said, staring down at the fabric in his fingers.

Gongenzaka shrugged.

"He said something about you could keep it. He has others...or something like that. He didn't stay."

There was something in Gongenzaka's voice, something irritable, as though he were angry that Reiji hadn't wanted to stay until Yuya woke up.

Yuya held the scarf in his hands, watching the way the fringe dangled, a red, supple waterfall. He pulled the fabric to his mouth and nose and inhaled gently.

He could still smell smoke, but...it wasn't strong enough to bother him. And something else, woven into the fabric, something he couldn't quite place.

For a moment, he could just imagine the blank, emotionless face of Reiji, not quite meeting his eyes as usual, acting like the distant antagonist, as always.

"_Keep it. It's a gift."_

Walking away without another word.

"Ass," Yuya muttered. But there was no venom to words.

He inhaled through the fabric again, just one more time.


	3. Unleash

Yuya Sakaki had been acting...odd, the last three days or so.

It hadn't been long since the Lancers had been officially formed, since Reiji had defeated Yuya. Reiji had certainly _expected_ animosity from the young Pendulum summoner; he himself would have hated himself had he been in Yuya's shoes. He felt a bit guilty at how he had manipulated and provoked the boy, but squashed the feeling as quickly as he could. He wasn't allowed to feel that. He had to do whatever it took...even if he _did_ still stare up at the ceiling at night, pretending that he was trying to sleep, and saw Yuya's stricken face and anguished cry for Yuzu repeat across the back of his mind.

But still, Yuya's actions were not really within the realm of Reiji's expectations. While Reiji was preparing for the Lancers to jump dimensions, running last minute calculations and simulations, Yuya had simply appeared. Technically, Reiji had asked no one besides his assistants be allowed in the control room, but he couldn't exactly block the Lancers from coming in. Sawatari showed up at least once every few hours to demand some sort of update.

It had been noon the day after Reiji had defeated Yuya when he had heard the elevator humming behind him, and looked up. He tried to hide the surprise at the sight of Yuya standing there, his normal jacket draped over his shoulders, crimson eyes narrowed into a glare and mouth twisted into a scowl. The expression did not look right on the normally bright, cheerful entertainer's face.

"Can I help you?" Reiji asked, adjusting his glasses.

For a moment, Yuya had just stared at him. Then, without a word, he had turned towards the corner of the room where an unused chair sat. He stalked over, plopped into the chair, and turned around to face Reiji, arms folded, eyes narrowed. Still silent.

Reiji raised an eyebrow at Yuya, waiting silently. He wouldn't ask again. If Yuya wanted to talk, he would talk.

But Yuya had said nothing, and eventually, Reiji had simply turned back to work. He could feel Yuya's eyes on the back of his head as his fingers ran across the keyboard, only looking up to issue some kind of command or a string of coordinate numbers to one of his assistants. After a few hours, he had heard the chair move slightly. He didn't look back to meet Yuya's eyes. He didn't have time for the boy's childishness.

But Yuya still said nothing, and the next thing Reiji knew, he heard the elevator moving again. When he finally looked up, Yuya was gone.

The same thing happened the next morning. Yuya had appeared, Reiji had asked him if there was anything he could help him with, Yuya had simply glared at him and stalked over to the chair to sit down and glare at Reiji. That day, he had stayed there, staring at Reij for almost five hours without moving or speaking. It had actually begun to unnerve Reiji a little bit. It was unlike the emotional, reckless, impulsive entertainer he was used to dealing with. Where were the questions? The accusations? He felt almost more pressured, less willing to make a mistake while Yuya was watching. Less willing to let himself drift off to sleep at his keyboard as he was sometimes prone to doing. He snapped himself to alertness almost three times that day, sipping angrily at his coffee and silently demanding that it keep him awake.

And then, just like the day before, without a word, Yuya left again.

Whatever the boy was trying to do, he was incredibly patient.

The third day dawned, and once again, Reiji heard the elevator hum. He didn't look up this time, but he could feel those crimson eyes boring into him before heard the squeak of sneakers moving towards that chair, the creaking of the chair sinking under the boy's weight.

Reiji did not acknowledge Yuya's presence this time. There was no point. If and when he wanted to talk, he would talk.

This time, only an hour passed before he heard Yuya make a soft snorting sound. Reiji glanced up, curious. Yuya was glaring at him, but it was more of...an exasperated look than an angry one.

"Is something the matter?" Reiji asked.

"You. You are the matter. Do you _ever_ leave that chair?"

"What?"

"I've been coming here and sitting here for _hours_, and never _once_ do I see you move. Geez, it's almost noon and you haven't even looked up to think about food. Do you even eat?"

Reiji blinked, actually taken aback. For the first time in a long time, he couldn't even think of anything to say. His mouth half opened, and stayed there. He closed it, quickly, when realized he didn't have anything to say—he didn't want to look like an idiot with his mouth hanging open.

"That is quite kind of you to be concerned, but I—"

"Hey, you, miss," Yuya said, completely ignoring him and looking over to one of Reiji's assistants. "Do you have an answer? Does he ever move? Does he even go up to go to the bathroom?"

The woman looked up with surprise. She glanced at Reiji, blushing slightly, uncertain of what to say.

"W-well, I don't know if it's my place to—"

"He doesn't, does he. Does he sleep at his desk, too?"

Another assistant snorted softly and then quickly ducked his head back to his computer.

"I'm taking that as a yes."

Yuya actually groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Again, Sakaki Yuya," Reiji said, looking a little irritated. "I appreciate your concern, but you are being somewhat distracting—"

"Oh, shut up," Yuya muttered.

He stood up with a snap and stalked towards the elevator. Without another word, he hit the button to send him down. This time, he wasn't glaring at Reiji. He wasn't even looking at him, his back to the other boy, as though he couldn't even look at him. Reiji just stared, watching the boy's head vanish below.

What on earth had that been about?

Three hours later, Reiji snapped to alertness. When—when had he fallen asleep? And what had woken him...? Ah. A message. But from whom?

Frowning, he clicked on the little blinking, beeping notification in the corner. It was titled "Important Message", but it contained only four words.

_You. Downstairs. Lobby. Now._

From Yuya? Why had Yuya...?

Oh no. It couldn't be an emergency, could it? That would explain the stilted sentence structure. But how would an Academy agent get in here—

Reiji stood up abruptly.

"I'm going to check something. Keep an eye on all the screens and readouts. And I want that final simulation done by tonight; we have to jump dimensions by tomorrow.

"Yes, sir."

Flipping his scarf back over his shoulder, Reiji marched for the elevator and pushed the button. He chafed at the slowness of the lowering platform. If something was wrong—

Finally, _finally_, he reached the bottom and headed for the doors to the lobby. He pushed them open and—

"_Finally!_ You sure took your sweet time."

Reiji jumped as something soared through the air at him. He caught it expertly and—a pancake?

"What..."

Yuya was perched at the end of a counter, balancing a plate of pancakes in one hand and chomping down on one in the other. Reiji blinked. He stared at the pancake in his hand, and then up at Yuya. For the second time in two days, he was at a total loss for words.

"What...?"

"Eat it," Yuya said, between angry bites. "That's what you do with a pancake. Obviously."

Reiji stared down at the pancake again.

"Really, Sakaki Yuya," Reiji said. "I don't exactly have the time for—"

Yuya rolled his eyes and groaned loudly.

"Akaba Reiji, would you please just _sit down_ and eat the damn pancake."

He said it with such force, such authority, that Reiji was actually taken aback. He stood dumbly for a moment, still holding the pancake. Yuya sighed again.

"Look. I talked to your brother. He told me you've barely eaten anything in four days and you haven't slept for weeks. So just sit down and eat the damn thing, you're going to get us across dimensions if you keel over from starvation and sleep deprivation."

Yuya _did_ have a point. The last thing Reiji had eaten was a piece of toast yesterday morning. He sighed and gave in, sitting down in the chair that Yuya pointed out at the side of the counter, and nibbling the pancake gently.

"It's...good," he said.

"It should be. My mom made them."

"Give her my thanks."

"Sure."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Reiji chewed very slowly.

"I suppose I owe you a thank you as well," he said, after finishing the pancake. "You didn't have to show concern."

Yuya ripped into his pancake with a little too much force. After he had swallowed the bite, he spun around on the counter so that he was facing Reiji, eyes narrowed.

"Listen, _Reiji_," he said, with a distinctive lack of formality. "I don't like you, okay? And you know that."

"I do," Reiji said, calmly. He wasn't particularly angry by Yuya's comment. He had, of course, been expecting this much sooner.

Yuya took another bite and chewed angrily. When he swallowed, he put the plate down and shoved it towards Reiji. There was still a stack of three more untouched pancakes there. Reiji glanced at it, surprised for the third time.

"But I've been talking to your brother. I was right. You don't leave that room. You've barely left it in years."

"I've attended numerous events. I'm not a social recluse."

"You go to the stupid events, do the minimal amount of appearing, and then you disappear back into your little cave."

Reiji felt an uncommon twinge of irritation.

"I have been doing my duties. I don't have time for—"

"For what? For taking care of yourself? For making sure your brother is feeling okay? When's the last time you really talked to him, huh?"

Yuya sat back, folding his arms, scowling at Reiji.

"I don't like you," he repeated.

And then his scowl faded. He just looked...sad. He sighed, his arms falling back to his sides.

"But honestly," he said. "I can't really fault you for how you turned out."

Really. This boy was making Reiji feel speechless far too often. Reiji just stared up at Yuya, searching the boy's crimsons eyes. What was bringing this on? Why did Yuya even care? He had done nothing to warrant the boy's evident concern.

Yuya blew out in a rush of air, making his lips flap a bit. He pushed off the counter.

"Eat those pancakes," he said. "And maybe try sleeping for once. Or going outside even. You know, you can't expect to work well with people when you shut yourself up in front of a computer all the time."

And before Reiji could say anything else, the boy was stalking away, pushing out through the LDS doors, and disappearing out into the sunlight.

Reiji stared at the swinging doors for a moment. He looked down at the stack of pancakes.

Well. He couldn't let them go to waste, he supposed...


	4. Swing, Pendulum of My Soul

"_All right. Good job. Now you're going to take a left."_

Yuya rolled his eyes at the voice in his ear.

"Kinda figured that one out, Reiji."

Because, well, this building he was in only had one direction to go at the end of the hall. Reiji snorted softly on the other end of the radio.

"_Please, Sakaki-san. Save the commentary for later. You are supposed to be quiet."_

Yuya sighed. He didn't like this. Being sent in to _spy_ on the Synchro Dimension first? He thought they were here to make allies, not to sneak around and peep in on random people. Hell, what even was Reiji's plan? How was he going to mobilize an entire dimension for war against another one? Was he going to do that or was he just on the look out for more strong duelists to add to the Lancers?

Either way, Yuya somehow ended up being the first reconnaissance scout...mostly because he was easily the quickest and most agile of the group, and with Reiji's guidance, could infiltrate this building with relative ease. Yuya wasn't entirely sure what he was doing besides giving Reiji some live feed video of the place—what was it? Kaiba Corporation or something? Whatever it was, it was pretty heavily guarded, and Yuya had had to rely exclusively on Reiji's talking in his ear to avoid the security.

"I still don't like this," he muttered into the microphone clipped to his shirt. "Shouldn't we just...talk to them?"

"_Sakaki-san, if there's one thing I've learned from all of this, it's that you must begin any negotiation with the advantage. Knowledge will give us that advantage."_

He paused, and Yuya could hear the clicking of keys.

"_And also...I don't know yet what kind of alliances have already been made. That one Synchro Duelist fought the Obelisk Force, yes. But Kaiba Corporation, according to my research, is the most powerful corporation in this world. They make all Dueling equipment, from Disks to those motorcycles. If I am wrong, and this company has contacts with the Academy..."_

He trailed off. Yuya frowned at the uncertainty in Reiji's voice. It didn't seem like him to show that kind of weakness in front of anyone. Especially not Yuya. He sighed.

"Okay. Which way now?"

"_You'll be going straight, if my blueprints are correct. At the end of the hall there is a door. Press that card I gave you to the lock, it should open."_

"And that's where that supercomputer is that you want me to scan?"

"_Correct. I've already upgraded your Duel Disk...just plug it in and it will do the job."_

"Got it. Is there any security?"

"_If my information is correct, you should have fifteen free minutes. Don't waste time."_

"Right-o."

Yuya peeked around the corner. The hall way empty, although, he could hear some activity behind some of the doors. Just some soft voices and the hint of laughter, the shuffling of papers and the clicking of keyboards. Normal office sounds. Yuya sucked in a breath. He swallowed, throat suddenly dry.

"What about cameras?" he muttered, looking dubiously up at them.

"_Don't worry about it. Your Duel Disk is also equipped with a jammer. They'll get a brief static interference when you walk past—you're nothing more than a blip on the screens. Something that can be dismissed. But don't stand in one place for too long. They'll get suspicious."_

"Okay..."

"_Don't be nervous, Sakaki-san. We don't have time for that."_

"I'm not nervous. Geez."

He took another quick glance around, and then focused on the faraway door. One door in the hallway was open—he'd have to be quick going past that one.

_Here goes..._

Yuya took a deep breath—and bolted.

He kept himself low, moving as smoothly and quickly as possible. He hesitated just the briefest of moments before the open door, checking to see that the woman had her head down at her papers and wasn't looking out and the man across from her had his back to him—and then he darted past that as well, thanking whatever power existed that this floor had carpeting to silence his footsteps.

He reached the door with little trouble and yanked the special card from his pocket, pressing it to the scanner. For a moment, numbers flashed wildly across the screen, and the froze in a certain sequence. There was a soft beep, and the door slid open.

Yuya ducked in, eyes raking the room. It was, as Reiji had predicted, empty. Seemed like a terrible security hazard, but whatever, if they were in a peacetime, they probably weren't thinking about it. Besides, who was going to break into a gaming company?

"_There should be a small port for you to plug in your Duel Disk on the left side of the control panel. Quickly, Sakaki-san, you might have less time than I anticipated."_

Yuya just nodded, even though Reiji couldn't see him. There were a million lights and screens and buttons, but he ignored them, moving to the side of the flashing control panel. It took some searching, but he found a small panel that opened up when he pressed it, with a space for a USB port. He pulled out the small cord from his Duel Disk and plugged it in. Immediately, his Duel Disk screen turned on. A small progress bar appeared and began to fill up with green.

"Wow. Moves faster than any download I've ever done."

"_Sakaki-san, enough with the commentary."_

There was...a worried edge to Reiji's voice.

"Is something wrong?" Yuya said, suddenly on alert.

His eyes slid back to the door. Sure, the progress bar was moving quickly, but it still had about halfway to go and it was slowly down a bit...

"_No. Nothing is wrong right now. Don't worry."_

Yuya bit his lip. He was kind of worrying. Not about to let Reiji see that, though.

Suddenly, his microphone crackled and he flinched.

"_Yuya, get out of there, now."_

"But the bar's not done—"

"_Forget about it, Yuya, _get out of there!"

There was real intensity in Reiji's voice that made Yuya flinch again. He yanked the USB cord free and let the cord snap back as he leaped to his feet. He bolted for the door and pressed the button for it to slide open again.

"_Quickly, Yuya, quickly, the guards are changing faster than I anticipated and they are _armed_. I repeat, Yuya, they are _armed_ with more than Duel Disks, you have to go_ now._"_

Yuya nodded. He could feel his heart racing as he bolted from the door. His eyes caught a glimpse of a pair of suited men out of the corner of his eye, coming down from the other hallway. He might have imagined it, but he thought he heard a shout. It oculd have just been the rushing in his ears but—

No time to waste. He didn't pause to check if the people in the open office were looking out, he just bolted. This time, he _did_ hear a shout.

"Did you just see—"

"Who the hell is running in the hallways—"

"_Straight, Yuya, go straight, go into that office straight ahead."_

Was that_ panic_ in Reiji's voice, or was Yuya just projecting his own nerves into it?

"But that's an office, what am I—"

"_Just do it, Yuya!"_

Yuya bit down on his next retort and bolted through the door. He closed it quickly behind him, hoping no one had seen it.

"_Open the window, Shun is waiting outside with his Raid Raptors, go, _go!_"_

Seriously?

Yuya groaned mentally, but he wasn't too perturbed by heights...so he should be able to make it. He rushed around the empty desk to the window, prying the lock and throwing the glass open.

Sure enough, there was Shun, hovering on top of his Vanishing Lanius with a drawn, irritable expression as always.

Yuya heard the door handle turning behind him.

"_Yuya!"_

Yuya jumped.

He landed heavily on the Vanishing Lanius, causing it to dip slightly. Shun threw his arm around Yuya's chest before he toppled over the side, and then tapped Vanishing Lanius. They shot like a rocket off into the sky before anyone could see them, diving upwards into the cloud cover.

"You all right?" Shun asked softly.

"Y-yeah," Yuya said, still shaking. That had been...really close. And the sudden speed of Lanius wasn't helping much either. "Thanks."

"_Yuya? Are you all right? Did you make it?"_

He wasn't imagining it, that _was_ worry in Reiji's voice. It was quiet and subtle, like he was trying to hide it, but it was there. Yuya had to grin, adrenaline and relief flooding through him at once.

"I'm good. Shun caught me."

He laughed a little, still coming off an adrenaline high.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were worried about me, Reiji."

The other side of the radio was silent for a long, long moment. After a few beats, Yuya thought that Reiji wasn't even going to answer that. And then, when he had turned his attention to the flight through the clouds instead, a small voice, so quiet that he almost missed it, filtered through the radio.

"_I was."_


	5. One Step

It was, Reiji thought, the worst possible situation.

Had it really been only five hours ago that he had seen Yuya before this had happened? Only five hours ago when he had made perhaps the worst mistake thus far?

Ice flowed through his veins as his mind cast back through the memories.

Five hours ago, Yuya had returned from his surveillance mission into Kaiba Corporation. Five hours ago, Yuya had been smiling and laughing at something that Dennis had said, even prompting a smile out of Shun. Five hours ago, Yuya had been _there_. He had been all right. Even after that scare in Kaiba Corporation, everything had been all right.

What had happened?

Reiji's hands tightened, trying to understand what was happening. That damned Academy agent that looked too much like Yuya for comfort simply smiled at Reiji, obviously enjoying his disquiet.

"I'm sorry," the boy Yuuri said, his voice smooth and velvety—poisonous. "Does this situation _bother you?_"

Reiji's jaw tightened. He tried not to look at the subject of his consternation, but it was hard. He felt so damn useless.

Two Obelisk Force soldiers had Yuya held down on his knees, his hands tied behind his back and a twisted hunk of cloth forced between his teeth, gagging him. His crimson eyes were wide with barely concealed fear and anger. He tried to struggle vainly against his captors, but seemed to flinch when he did so, as though there were wounds beneath his shirt that he was straining.

Reiji could see the boy's shoulders trembling as he struggled for breath around the gag, could see the _blood_ staining the boy's shirt.

"Are you getting distracted?" Yuuri asked, with a little too much excitement. "I did my research, Akaba Reiji. This Sakaki Yuya is your ace, isn't he? He's _precious_, isn't he?"

Yuuri laughed, a mad, reverberating sound that made Reiji want to snarl. He retained his composure, however, making himself stone.

"Maybe in more ways than one, if I'm reading you right," the boy teased.

Stone. He was stone. Don't let him get under the skin.

The Action Field was already on, Duel already halfway begun. Until now, Reiji had had the advantage, even with the rest of his Lancers distracted elsewhere. His Pendulum Scale set, his ace on the field, he had this duel in his control.

And Yuuri had known it—and decided to play dirty by bringing out the bound Yuya suddenly. Reiji had no idea how he had even managed to catch Yuya without Reiji noticing—dammit, dammit, dammit.

This was all his fault.

Yuuri laughed again, eyes widening with malicious glee as he stepped along the edge of the cliff he stood on, walking around behind where Yuya was being held and leaning down to wrap his arms around the boy from behind. He grinned at Reiji over the top of Yuya's head as the two Obelisk Force soldiers backed off, letting Yuuri have his fun.

"If you want him back, you'll have to beat me quickly," Yuuri said. "Before I decide to push him off..."

He put his hand on Yuya's back and pushed gently. Yuya tilted dangerously forward, eyes widening with a flash of terror as he leaned too far over the edge to a drop off—

Reiji flinched. He tried not to but he couldn't help it—

Yuuri laughed, grabbing Yuya by the hair and yanking him back before he toppled over the edge.

"Just kidding~," he said.

He hugged Yuya again. Reiji could see Yuya flinch at the touch, looking desperate and pained, his face red as he tried to breathe around the gag.

"Ooh, I have an idea," Yuuri said, grinning as he rocked Yuya back and forth, back and forth towards and away from the cliff. "What if you surrender to me? I'm sure you're a far better prize than little Yuya-kun, anyway. You are of course, the leader of those pesky Lancers. What if we trade? You surrender, we take you, and release Yuya-kun."

"I have no way of knowing if you will keep your word," Reiji snapped. "This duel will continue. When I win, I will be taking Yuya from you."

"Oh, my, you're no fun at all, are you?" Yuuri said, sighing. "I suppose if you won't comply..."

He again pushed Yuya forward, slowly this time, until he was suspending Yuya almost parallel from the cliff by his hair. Tears sprung to the edges of Yuya's eyes from the pulling on his hair, although it was evident he was fighting to keep them in.

Reiji flinched again in spite of himself.

Images of Yuya flashed across the back of his mind—those crimson eyes on the screen, focused and determined while the words "Pendulum Summoning" scrolled beneath his image. The broken look when Reiji had first summoned a Pendulum monster. The determination that returned to his eyes in his later duels. The anger and anguish as he had screamed out Yuzu's name. The disgruntled, almost frustrated sound he had made at Reiji when he hadn't moved from his chair. The pancake thrown at him from across a room.

"One last chance," Yuuri said. "Or we can continue this duel with a nice backdrop of scrambled Yuya on the ground."

Yuya's crimson eyes met Reiji's. Despite the tears, there was defiance, anger there.

_Don't you dare do it._

_Don't surrender._

_Don't you dare._

That flash of fear when he had thought Yuya was going to be caught in Kaiba Corporation. The tears in the corners of his eyes now, the blood staining his shirt.

Stone. He had to be stone. Nothing could affect him. He was the antagonist. The fate of his entire dimension rested on him. Yuya was a tool. A tool he had manipulated and pulled into place.

He was a tool. He was a tool.

He wasn't just a tool.

Reiji felt his shoulders slump slightly, something in him snapped and sagged. He already knew. He already knew that he was going to break—that all he had worked for, all he had done in the past three years—he was just about to throw it all away.

Because he couldn't watch Yuya die.

His hand moved up to his deck, slowly, painfully.

"Ah, there we go," Yuuri said quietly, eyes narrowing with pleasure. "That's it, Akaba Reiji."

Reiji's hand hovered just above the deck, about to drop down on top of it. Yuya's eyes were wide, shock, disbelief, a desperate plea to _not do it—_

But Reiji did not complete the surrender motion.

"_Battle Royale, Joining."_

"I summon Vanishing Lanius!"

"I activate Fusion from my hand to summon Moonlight Cat Dancer!"

Reiji's head snapped up. Shun swooped down out of nowhere on the back of Lanius, Selena dropping down after him in Moonlight Cat Dancer's arms. Selena landed beside Yuuri with a dancer's grace. She spun and kicked, catching Yuuri right in the small of the back. He gasped and let go of Yuya. But Shun was already moving, swooping under the falling boy and snagging him before he hit the ground. Shun landed gently, Yuya caught securely in his arms. His eyes snapped up to Reiji.

"Finish this!" he shouted.

Reiji's hand snapped away from his deck, as though he were coming out of a daze.

"DDD Hell Armageddon!" he shouted. "Direct Attack!"

Yuuri snarled, his face contorted with a vicious rage as he ducked under another distracting strike from Selena.

It wasn't quite enough. The Academy agent rolled and snagged an Action card.

"Evade!" he shouted, activating the magic.

The attack still sent up a cloud of dust and debris in front of the boy. Reiji already knew before it had cleared that Yuuri was gone. He had known he was beaten for the day.

Reiji found that his heart was rushing in his chest. His breaths came irregularly, heavily. He actually felt choked.

It took him a moment to compose himself. When he did, and he looked down to where Shun had settled Yuya on the ground and removed his gag and bindings, he found that Yuya was looking up at him.

There was a certain mixture of disbelief, awe, and uncertainty in those apple-red eyes.


	6. Arc of Smile

"Let me see."

"It's not that bad, honest..."

"Yuya."

Yuya sighed. He didn't...really want Reiji to be poking and prodding at him—why did he even care, anyway? Seemed like it would have been more Gongenzaka's thing to check him over for wounds, and his tall friend had in fact been on the warpath when he had found out what happened. Yuya had been too tired to deal with Gongenzaka's rage and constant asking if he was okay. Maybe that was the reason why Reiji had quietly drawn Yuya into a side room and told everyone that he needed a few moments.

Reiji was still waiting, a first aid kit balanced on his legs, dark eyes considering.

Yuya sighed again, and rolled up the front of his shirt. For a moment, the fabric kind of stuck, the blood having dried, and he winced a little as he pulled it free.

He thought he might have imagined it, but it sounded like Reiji drew in a sharp breath at the sight.

"Yuuri did this to you?"

"Yeah..."

Yuya shuddered, trying not to think about it. He had been so stupid. He shouldn't have gone after that Obelisk Force soldier by himself, without shouting for Gongenzaka who was just a few feet ahead of him. He hadn't been thinking, he just...was so shocked to see the Obelisk Force and had to make sure there wasn't anymore.

Well, there had been more. A few more than he had been able to handle, and they hadn't played fair. Hadn't really played at all, actually...Yuya could still remember the soft, poisonous sound of Yuuri's voice commanding the soldiers to pin Yuya down without even activating his Duel Disk, still remembered the chafing of the ropes around his wrists and the fabric shoved into his mouth when he tried to shout for Gongenzaka.

Reiji popped open the first aid kid and pulled out a small cloth and a bottle of disinfectant.

"This will be easier if you remove the shirt. You'll want to get a new one, anyway."

Yuya blushed a little, feeling weird. But Reiji was right. Yuya pulled the shirt up over his head, trying not to get the dried blood in his hair, and discarded the ruined garment on the seat beside him.

With a professional sort of efficiency, Reiji sprayed the cloth with the disinfectant and began to carefully dab at the deep cuts. Yuya hissed a bit through his teeth at the sting. But he managed to stay still.

"I can do that myself," he muttered.

"Oh, really? I believe that are some on your back as well. Can you reach those?"

"Well...that doesn't mean you have to—"

"For two minutes, Yuya. For two minutes, can you please be quiet."

Yuya bit down on his sentence, settling into a quiet grimace. Reiji's eyes were focused, not glancing up at Yuya as he worked. When had Reiji started called him "Yuya" instead of "Sakaki-san," anyway?

"These are quite deep. Do they still hurt?"

"...a little."

Yuya flinched again at a particularly bad sting. Reiji didn't comment, continuing his work cleaning up the blood.

The cuts ran in strange patterns all down Yuya's chest and stomach. There were more on his back, too, he could feel them. He shuddered a bit, remembering the laughter in Yuuri's voice as he had sat on Yuya, pinning him down while he carved designs into his skin, giggling at Yuya's half screams through his gag—

"Yuya."

Reiji's voice snapped Yuya back. He hadn't realized it, but he had been...fading out. The memory had been just a little too much—his heart pounded in his chest, his throat was dry.

For the first time, Reiji met Yuya's eyes. Calm, dark orbs, outlined with thick lashes, holding Yuya's gaze. There was nothing to read in those eyes; they were like glass, reflecting Yuya's face. He was really, really good at hiding what he was thinking, wasn't he?

"Are you all right?" he asked, quietly.

Yuya shrugged.

"I'm good. Keep doing what you're doing, I guess."

He thought he said Reiji's lips press together a bit tighter, but the young man did not press. He finished cleaning Yuya's chest and moved around to take care of the cuts on the back.

The touches were cold, and stung, but they were gentle. Yuya was almost surprised at how careful Reiji could be. There was a delicacy to the way he dabbed at the wounds and wiped away the blood, graceful and smooth, careful not to hurt Yuya further. Yuya found a light tingle running down his spine at the brush of Reiji's fingers.

Reiji finished his work, and set down the cloth, moving for the gauze.

"You'll have to help me with this part," he said.

"R-right."

Reiji started pulling the gauze around Yuya's chest, gesturing for Yuya to hold it down on one end while he wrapped around the back. With his usual precision, Reiji finished wrapping the gauze around the wounds.

"They're deep...but they should stop bleeding soon. You'll have to change the gauze once or twice. And...unfortunately, you will most likely have scars from this. There is little I can do to prevent that."

"That's fine... Thanks."

Reiji inclined his head slightly, the barest hint of a nod. He rose with the first aid kit and moved to a cabinet on the other side of the room, replacing the box inside.

"Hey...Reiji..." Yuya said.

"Yes?"

"Back then...were you...really going to surrender?"

Yuya couldn't really believe that Reiji would have. He doubted that he was important enough to the Lancers for Reiji to have given himself up—despite his prowess as the so-called Pendulum Pioneer, Yuya knew that Reiji was certain to think of him as nothing more than another piece in his machine to take down the Academy. That was the way this guy worked. He was sure of it.

When Reiji didn't respond right away, or even turn back around, Yuya found himself rambling.

"I mean...you knew that Shun and Selena were coming, right? So you were stalling."

Yeah, that was it. Akaba Reiji wasn't about to sacrifice himself for Yuya. Didn't make sense. Reiji's one goal was taking down the Academy, and Reiji had to be present for that to work. Losing one or two Lancers wouldn't matter to him. Watching kids get carded hadn't seemed to bother him before, after all.

"I..." Reiji said, suddenly, breaking the silence and startling Yuya. "I didn't know that Shun and Selena were so close. My communicator in my Duel Disk was jammed by Yuuri's Disk."

Yuya found his mouth opening slightly.

"So...you...?"

Reiji still didn't turn to look at Yuya, but he moved from the cabinet towards the door.

"Make certain to move slowly for at least a day or so. We don't want those to reopen. Unfortunately, that will compromise you somewhat in an Action Duel. Find a way to work around that."

And without meeting Yuya's eyes, he turned the door handle and stepped out into the hallway.

"W-wait...Reiji—"

The door closed silently behind the gray-haired young man. Yuya was left alone in the small room, staring at the closed door.

He hadn't...really answered the question, had he? And yet...he sort of...had...

Yuya felt, for a strange moment, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth for no reason. Warmth jumped to his cheeks.

"You really are an ass, aren't you," he muttered.


	7. Future Fighter

Reiji was confusing. Probably the most confusing person that Yuya had ever met.

One moment, he was the reserved genius, hiding behind his glasses, the soft-spoken manipulator that drove Yuya mad. The next moment, he was the socially inept recluse that forgot that he was supposed to eat and sleep. And the moment after that, he was the gentle, methodical examiner who checked over Yuya's wounds with a critical eye, the man with gentle fingers and a quiet voice on the other end of the radio saying 'yes. Yes I was worried about you.'

Yuya stared at the back of Reiji's head, willing him to turn around and look at him. It had been several hours since the mysterious head of the Lancers had treated Yuya's wounds, and he still felt stiff, but much better than before.

_Look at me, dammit_, he thought. _Look at me. Don't pretend to ignore me after...that_.

He couldn't deny the weird tingles that went down his arms every time he thought Reiji's cool fingers dabbing at his wounds, those dark, unreadable eyes narrowing at the sight of Yuya's injuries. He felt a heat rise to his cheeks that he didn't want to acknowledge.

_He was going to surrender. Reiji. Reiji was going to surrender because of me_.

Who exactly was this guy, anyway? Yuya couldn't get a handle on him. It was confusing just to _look_ at him, to compare this quiet man at work at his computer with the young man that had stood across the field and let his hand hover over his deck in anticipation of surrender.

_Do you really care, or are you just manipulating me again?_

No. That wasn't it. He knew it—somehow. But it chafed at him, the thought that maybe Reiji was just doing this for the same reason he had manipulated their previous duels, the same reason he had kept Yuzu's true location from him before.

For some reason, the idea that he was just using Yuya hurt. A lot.

It shouldn't. He had already decided to hate Akaba Reiji. Hadn't he? His ire with the other teenager felt like it was fading from him.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked, tired of being ignored.

And still, Reiji did not respond right away. When he did look up from the computer, it was with groggy eyes that he blinked away quickly. Had he been not sleeping again?

"Hm? Ah. Yuya. When did you arrive?"

"I've been here for the past ten minutes."

"Ah. Why didn't you say something?"

Yuya sighed and rolled his eyes. He really was in his own little world, wasn't he?

"What are you doing?" he repeated.

Reiji glanced down at the screen.

"Checking over the data you brought back from Kaiba Corporation."

"And...?"

"I see no evidence of Academy connections; at least, not the Fusion dimension's version. There appears to be a version of the Academy in this universe, but it is only that. A school. It doesn't appear to have the military capabilities of the Fusion version."

"That's good, right?"

"Mm. It's encouraging, on one hand. On the other, we could be hard-pressed to find able duelists on the level of the Academy's trained soldiers."

Yuya shrugged, frowning.

"But you found us, in Standard."

"We have only nine that reached my level of qualification. If all I can expect from here is another nine, we may end up being in over our heads in this fight."

Reiji let out a soft sigh. It was quiet, so quiet that Yuya almost didn't hear it—but it was tired. So, so tired.

_How did you end up being in charge of all of this, anyway? You're only sixteen._

He frowned again, looking at the screen. Nothing made sense to him on it, just a lot of numbers and fancy words. He looked down at Reiji.

"You look tired," he said.

Reiji blinked. He glanced at Yuya, frowning.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said you look tired. Are you not sleeping again?"

Reiji half-smiled.

"Concerned for me again, Yuya?"

Yuya huffed, folding his arms.

"Oy, look, just because you're a dick, doesn't mean I want you to keel over and die, you know?"

Reiji just smiled at that, shaking his head, and didn't respond. Yuya frowned. He put a hand on the desk, leaning on it so that he was facing Reiji.

"I'm serious. Are you not sleeping?"

Reiji smiled blandly up at Yuya.

"I have not slept well in three years Yuya. I doubt I will until this whole matter is dealt with."

And then he looked back down at his computer screen, a signal that he thought the conversation was over. Yuya, however, was not backing down.

"Maybe you need to stop staring at the computer screen," he said. "You have a whole team of Lancers. Get somebody else to do it for once. You look like you could sleep right now if you would let yourself."

Reiji hesitated in the middle of typing, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Finally, he rested his hands lightly atop the keys, and looked up at Yuya again, curiosity flashing across his face. He stared at Yuya for a long, somewhat uncomfortable moment.

"What?" Yuya said.

Reiji shook his head.

"Nothing," he said. "I was only thinking...you are a very confusing person, Sakaki Yuya."

Yuya looked rather comical with that disbelieving expression.

"Me? I'm confusing? You're the confusing one," he said.

Reiji had to smile at that.

"Oh? How so?"

"You...you just...ugh! This is why. This is exactly why."

Reiji chuckled. Yuya certainly was expressive. It was...rather endearing, despite how Reiji had viewed his emotional tendencies previously, and still did, to a point. He couldn't have his most important member of the Lancers relying entirely on his emotional state for evolution; that was far too untrustworthy a method.

"You'll have to be more specific than that," he said, shaking his head with a slight smile.

"Well, what about _me_? How am _I_ confusing?"

Reiji shrugged.

"Because you seem to care about my wellbeing when I have given you absolutely no reason to. I will be blunt with you, Yuya. I have manipulated you to an extraordinary degree to get you into the Lancers, and I am certain that you are quite aware of it. You have made it quite clear your feelings for me."

And yet, as he spoke, he felt like the words tasted bad in his mouth. He didn't want these words to be true. That last sentence—he didn't want Yuya's hate to be true. He knew it was, though. Yuya would always hold some animosity towards him. It was to be expected. He had expected it from the beginning.

"...I don't know if I have."

He said it so, so quietly. Reiji thought that maybe he had misheard him. He glanced up at the boy despite feeling uncharacteristically anxious about doing so. Yuya was staring at him, brows drawn together over crimson eyes, chewing on his lip.

"You're so damn confusing," he said. "You say stuff like that and then—and then you do other stuff.:

"You'll have to be a tad more specific," Reiji said.

"You were going to surrender to Yuuri. Don't pretend like you weren't. Why?"

Reiji dropped his gaze. He could feel the heat of the computer on his hands, his fingers still resting on the keyboard. The room felt...like static, all of a sudden. There was a buzz in the air—or was that just in his head?

"I don't know," he said finally. "I was just...going to."

Yuya stared down at him.

"Gah," he muttered. "You really are confusing."

He took a step back. For a moment, Reiji thought he was going to leave.

"Do you know why I wanted to be an Entertainment Duelist?"

It was an odd question, one that Reiji had to hesitate before answering. Where did this come from?

"I assume it was to follow in your father's footsteps."

Yuya shifted, looking down at the ground.

"That was...part of it."

He hesitated, the silence growing.

"Because...because I want to see people smile," he said. "When I make people smile, it's like...I feel like I'm allowed to smile, then. I've always had trouble smiling."

"What? You?"

Reiji couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Yeah, me," Yuya said, smiling wryly. "I just...I want people to smile. Because it hurts to not be able to."

Reiji stared up at Yuya. Their eyes met for the first time since Reiji had dropped his eyes.

"What brought this on?" he asked softly.

Yuya's eyes...they were such a deep, determined shade.

"Because...because I don't think I've ever seen you smile before, Reiji. I—I kinda want to see you smile."

He paused. A blush crept over his cheeks.

"B-because—because you're just such a stick-in-the-mud. You don't take care of yourself, you don't ever look happy, it's annoying. You're annoying."

Reiji found himself speechless for a long moment, and Yuya continued to babble.

"It's just—ugh! You're an ass, and you say all these terrible things, and you don't seem to actually care about anyone but then you go and do something weirdly heroic and it just annoys the shit out of me—"

Reiji wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but the spark in his chest told him that he should. He leaned forward, almost at the same height as Yuya in his tall chair, and cut Yuya off with a brief, brush of his lips.

Yuya froze. Reiji could feel the heat of the boy's cheeks against his own. And then, Yuya slowly, slowly pressed back. Reiji's eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment.

And the the contact ended. They both drew back, Yuya flushing as he skittered back a few feet and stared at the floor.

Reiji anticipated more flustered words. Something along the lines of 'what the hell was that for?'

But none came. Reiji himself sat there in silence, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. Tingles ran down his skin. Nothing had felt more...right than that. Nothing had felt more right in three years, and even then, he felt...somehow guilty about it.

"...Reiji."

"Yes...?"

Yuya didn't look at him. Reiji thought that if he could see under those thick bangs, he would see Yuya's face going a beet red.

"...what was that for?"

Reiji looked away.

"I'm not...sure."

He paused.

"I'm sorry."

He turned back to the computer, to go back to work. Now the guilt was really eating away at him. He should have known better. He should have anticipated this, anticipated that he was going to lose control and give in to feelings that he had no right to have. From the very beginning, he had been trying to ignore the signs in himself—ever since he had seen those _eyes_...

"...don't apologize."

The words startled Reiji out of his reverie. He turned in his swivel chair to face Yuya again. This time, Yuya was looking right at him, still flushed.

"Yuya...?"

"I said, don't apologize, ass," Yuya muttered. "Don't do something like that and then try to slip out of it with a sorry."

"I—"

And then Yuya was stepping forward and pressing his lips firmly against Reiji's—it was an impulsive, petulant move, and for a moment, Reiji could only freeze. Then he found himself kissing back, giving in to those uncertain feelings, letting Yuya's arms wrap around his shoulders and his own hands slide onto Yuya's side.

They broke apart, and both of them were breathing a bit more heavily than usual. Reiji wondered if his face was as red as Yuya's. He wondered vaguely if anyone was going to walk in on them, now.

"You are very confusing, Sakaki Yuya," he muttered.

"Not as confusing as you, grumpy-pants," Yuya muttered back.

He wasn't letting go of Reiji. Reiji wasn't letting go of him. His lips twitched upwards in to half a smile. Yuya's eyes actually widened at that.

"I knew you could smile, you grumpy ass," he said.

Reiji laughed softly.

"If you want to see me smile," he said. "You're going to have to keep entertaining me, sir Entertainment Duelist."

"You're a dumbass," Yuya muttered back.

But he half smiled himself.

It made Reiji want to smile more.

* * *

**A/N: Welp, that's the end of Pendulm Week...I hope you enjoyed this! I'll probs write some more Pendulumshipping eventually, but that's the end of Swaying of My Soul. Thanks for coming along for the ride this week!**


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